Fire victim Bellocq makes her training return at Del Mar

Trainer Martine Bellocq confers with jockey Keiber Coa before his ride on Grey Tsunami in the first race at Del Mar on Friday.

Trainer Martine Bellocq confers with jockey Keiber Coa before his ride on Grey Tsunami in the first race at Del Mar on Friday. (Del Mar courtesy photo)

Tod Leonard

With her son-in-law, Colin Hinck, serving as the jockey at the handles of her wheelchair, Martine Bellocq sped across the artificial turf of the Del Mar racetrack paddock to send off her horse, Brite Rivers, in Friday’s third race.

After jockey Ruben Fuentes, in white and purple silks, climbed into the saddle of the 3-year-old filly and led her away, an ex-jockey in jeans reached his hand out to greet Bellocq.

Retired Hall of Famer Chris McCarron had not seen the 64-year-old Bellocq since she suffered burns over 60 percent of her body while trying to save a horse during the Lilac Fire last Dec. 7. The blaze heavily damaged the San Luis Rey Downs training facility and killed at least 46 horses.

Thrilled to see McCarron, Bellocq, in her French accent, said something to him about being in the Hall of Fame.

His response: “You’re in the heroes hall of fame, Martine.”

A few minutes later, when the paddock had cleared, McCarron marveled, “There’s no comparison. What she did to save her horses, to try to save lives, it’s just amazing.

“I feel so bad for her and my peers for what they’ve endured. God bless her that she’s out here watching her horses run.”

The day after Thanksgiving marked yet another milestone in Bellocq’s long, arduous road to recovery.

For the first time in 11 months, she was on hand with her training partner and husband of more than four decades, Pierre, to watch two of their horses go to the post. Neither challenged for a win — Grey Tsunami was sixth in the first race and Brite Rivers fifth in the third — but it was another move forward.

Sitting in her wheelchair, draped in a blanket, her face protected with sunglasses and a cloth hospital mask, Bellocq said of the occasion, “I see the horses. I take them to the track. You know, it’s all of my life. It’s hard to live without horses.”

Cheerfully, she added, “My family says I should retire, but maybe we have the next stakes horse. You never know.”

Martine’s daughter, Stephanie Hinck, said the family had an enjoyable Thanksgiving at their home in Temecula. Martine shot a Nerf gun with her grandchildren, Liam, 7, and Charlotte, 5. They put up and decorated the Christmas tree.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Hinck said, “We’re just so grateful she’s with us. We’re grateful she’s going to be with us for holidays to come.

“She’s got a lot of challenges, and she is dealing with them as no one else but her would. That’s my mom. She’s a tough cookie.

“I look at what she’s gone through. It was almost a year ago, and it’s hard to think about that. … Everything she went through, and she’s made it out of it. It’s a miracle.”

Bellocq has received numerous honors for her heroism, including the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award in an August appearance at Del Mar. She was badly burned while trying to rescue her horse, Wild Bill Hickory, who, tragically, ran back into the fire and died.

Bellocq has undergone many skin graft surgeries — the most recent, she said, on her eyelids and chin. She has more procedures upcoming.

“It’s day to day, week by week, little steps toward recovery,” her daughter said. “It’s going to be a little while before she’s 99 percent of herself. She’s going to get there; I just know it.”

McCarron said of Bellocq’s determined recovery, “That’s what horses do for you — they just promote hope. When it’s in your blood, like it is for me and her and Pierre, they just give you everlasting hope. That’s what she’s living for — to watch her horses run.”

Chicago Style takes Hollywood

Favored Chicago Style, with Drayden Van Dyke riding, charged from well off the pace and overtook Eastern challenger Bigger Picture in the final strides to win by a neck in the $200,000 Grade II Hollywood Turf Cup.

Owned by Glen Hill Farm and trained by Tom Proctor, Chicago Style ($5.80) was racing for only the second time since January. The 5-year-old gelding with only 11 lifetime starts had last won in a $62,000 optional claiming race in August 2017 at Del Mar.

The victory, which was the first of the meet for Proctor, achieved a personal milestone for him. He surpassed his father, Willard Proctor, for the family’s most stakes wins at Del Mar with 18.

Tom Proctor doesn’t speak to the media. Van Dyke, who was seventh through much of the the 1½-mile turf race, said, “I knew they were going slow, but my horse relaxed and I was comfortable with where we were. He’s a straightforward horse; you ask him and he gives.”

The Proctor team had to survive an inquiry due to an objection by trainer Phil D’Amato that Chicago Style cut in front of and impeded his horse, Ya Gotta Wanna. The stewards ruled there would be no change.

In an interesting scene in the paddock before the race, there was no trainer tending to Bigger Picture, who was shipped in from Kentucky by Michael Maker, who was not on site. No assistant was in the paddock, and it was Proctor who helped Mike Smith into the saddle.

Of getting caught so close to the wire, Smith said, “He ran dynamite. He ran too good to lose.”

Notable

With eight different trainers notching wins, Peter Miller stayed on top for the meet with his seventh victory (C.C. Zipp, fifth race).

Van Dyke scored back-to-back wins (Chicago Style and trainer Reed Saldana’s She’s a Dime in the seventh) to take a one-win lead, with 11, over Geovanni Franco. Franco won aboard Mark Glatt’s Eddie Haskell in the second and D’Amato’s Screenshot in the eighth.

With a carryover of $52,114 and “new” money of $238,926, Friday’s total Pick Six pool was $291,040. There were 21 perfect tickets and each paid $8,559.80. The single ticket Jackpot now is $121,867.

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